I think that putting the cn=config backend in some other directory
instead of /etc/ldap/slapd.d (that's for Debian, don't know for other
distributions) could help a lot.
Most sysadmin expect to find text configuration files under /etc, not a
kind of testual DB. I already filed a bug for Debian because that choice
is like looking for trouble.
Having it in a binary format could be even better, so people will not
mislead thinking they are some kind of split configuration files.

Hmmm - that's an interesting thought. It probably should be under
/var/lib/slapd-config or similar as it is effectively a database rather
than a configuration file.

My understanding is that touching the files in /etc/ldap/slapd.d is a
definite no-no once the LDAP directory has been initialised, which is
why I'm interested in Howard showing us his workflow for working on
schemas so I can document it.